Green energy investment to double by 2020, but Europe to lose share

Global annual spend on renewable energy is set to double by 2020, but sovereign debt problems in Europe will see it lose market share, according to new research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The provider of independent analysis on clean energy released its Global Renewable Energy Market Outlook today, which forecasts the amount of money spent on renewable energy projects across the globe will reach $395 billion (£251 billion) by 2020, compared to $195 billion (£124 billion) in 2010. That figure will have risen to $460 billion (£292.4 billion) by 2030, with renewable sources contributing 15.7 per cent of total energy production globally, the report, which examines the size of the world renewable energy markets up to 2030, said.

It predicts sovereign debt problems in Europe will see this powerhouse of renewable energy scale back on clean energy support by 2014, with China superseding it with an annual spend of just under $50 billion (£31.7 billion).

Although it forecasts growth in the European market will resume post 2015 as investment scales up to meet the EU 2020 renewable energy target, it predicts the big winners over the next 20 years will be Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The report projects growth rates in these regions at between 10 and 18 per cent per year over the period 2010 to 2020.

"By 2020 the markets outside of the EU, US, Canada and China will account for 50 per cent of global annual investment in renewable energy capacity," Guy Turner, director of commodity market research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said.

The combined annual value of installed renewable energy capacity in the US and Canada would to hit $50 billion (£31.7 billion) of investment in 2020, the report said.

Leading technologiesWind and solar with lead the pack in terms of technology investment share. Growth in offshore will drive total wind investment to $140 billion (£89 billion) by 2020 from $82 billion (£52 billion) in 2010, rising to $206 billion (£131 billion) per annum by 2030. Solar will attract annual average of $130 billion (£82.6 billion) over 2010-30 compared with $86 billion (£54.6 billion) in 2010, according to the report.

Although smaller, investment in biofuels, biomass and waste to energy projects will grow significantly over the next decade, rising from $14 billion (£9 billion) in 2010 to $80 billion (£50.8 billion) in 2020, remaining level for the next decade.

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